Matthew was recently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law and Society at the University of Hertfordshire and has extensive experience of higher education and leadership. After completing his Undergraduate and Master’s studies at the University of Cambridge, he took his DPhil at Oxford, where he was also a Research Officer and a Stipendiary Lecturer in Law at New College. From there he moved to Birkbeck, University of London, where he was one of the founding members of the Law School. 

Subsequently he was called to the Bar of England and Wales before taking on the role of Deputy Director of the Law Programme at the Open University. After a period at Keele University he returned to Birkbeck as Professor of Law and Policy and Pro-Vice-Master (Academic and Community Partnerships). In 2015 he moved to the University of Portsmouth, where he was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.